Natural Superheroes: Antioxidants

It feels as though antioxidants are boosted in just about everything healthy we buy nowadays — not just in foods, but in skin care and hair care.

They must be a good thing judging from this. But do you actually know why antioxidants are considered to be so potent and awesome?

As the name suggests, they fight against oxidisation. Rust is oxidisation at work on inanimate objects. While we might joke about getting rusty, we face very real culprits that cause our equivalent: free radicals.

In this comprehensive article on antioxidants by Dr Mercola, his explanation of free radicals and how antioxidants work sheds light simply on the process, so I’ll let him say it in his words:

“Free radicals can severely affect your DNA by disrupting the duplication of DNA, interfering with DNA maintenance and breaking open or altering its structure by reacting with the DNA bases. Free radicals are linked to over 60 different diseases, including cancer, Parkinson’s disease, Alzheimer’s disease, cataracts, atherosclerosis.

If your body does not get adequate protection, free radicals can become rampant, causing your cells to perform poorly. This can lead to tissue degradation and put you at risk of diseases. This is where antioxidants come in. Antioxidants are electron donors. They can break the free radical chain reaction by sacrificing their own electrons to feed free radicals, but without turning into free radicals themselves.

Antioxidants are nature’s way of providing your cells with adequate defence against attack by reactive oxygen species (ROS). As long as you have these important micronutrients, your body will be able to resist aging caused by your everyday exposure to pollutants.

Antioxidants also help slow down the aging process, which can have immense effects on your skin health.”

Antioxidants work in many ways, and depending on whether they are fat soluble (lipid soluble) or water soluble, they have different specialties. Likewise, enzymatic and non-enzymatic antioxidants do different jobs. Enzymatic ones both break down and remove free radicals, whereas non-enzymatic antioxidants interrupt free radical chain reactions and lighten the workload for enzymatic antioxidants — thereby helping prevent their depletion. The body produces enzymatic antioxidants, so the more you can reduce the amount of work they have to do by supplying your body with plenty of non-enzymatic ones like carotenoids, vitamin C, vitamin E, plant polyphenols, and glutathione, the easier it is for your body to produce sufficient quantities of enzymatic ones.

Antioxidants repair damaged molecules, help with chelation of heavy toxic metals, increase your body’s own natural defences, act as a protective force field around your DNA and can cause harmful cells in the body to self-destruct. All pretty influential reasons for wanting to keep your antioxidants plumped up abundantly.

I respect Dr Mercola’s views that supplements should be used sparingly and we should source things from the right valuable foods instead. But it’s very important to also take into account the depleted nutrients in our food nowadays through depleted nutrients in the soil itself — coupled with the toxins many of our foods are subjected to by the time they reach our kitchens.   I reduce sugar and processed foods and load up on the healthy ones from non-toxic sources, but I notice a distinct positive difference when I take effective supplements as well.

My favourites all come from my sole source of essential oils: Young Living. (You can find out more about why I love them so much in these short videos here and here.) I know how superior their quality is when it comes to essential oils, and I know that translates across to all the products in their range. Plus their foods and supplements include essential oils to enhance absorption and add their particular benefits. And many essential oils have an enormous capacity to absorb free radicals.

My top tips from an antioxidant perspective are NingXia Red™ juice (tasty and so easy to enjoy every day), Longevity™ capsules (a daily essential oil and ultra-antioxidant boost that includes frankincense) and OmegaGize³™ (with omega-3, CoQ10 and a special Omega Enhancement™ blend that “works to support the omega-3s ability to support a healthy immune response to inflammation oxidative stress”*).

In addition to eating antioxidant-rich foods and supplementing, here are some more fundamentals you can embrace to help the cause.

Reduce sugar and grains (which convert to sugar in the body)

Fructose reacts with proteins to cause free radical production in your body that potentially damages the liver the same way excess alcohol does. Reducing your sugar and grain load will both decrease this stress and increase the effectiveness of the antioxidants circulating in your body.

Get plenty of exercise

This is the gift that gives with one hand and takes away with the other, as exercise can boost your ability to produce antioxidants but can also boost harmful oxidative stress. Short bursts of cardio activity will tip more to the healthy side than long, sustained efforts like distance running.

Ground yourself

This study Can electrons act as antioxidants? A review and commentary (Oschman JL; Journal of Alternate and Complement Medicine 2007 Nov; 13(9):955-67)  gives good reason to resting your shoes and using the earth to ground yourself. It’s said to have a potent antioxidant effect due to absorbing large quantities of negative electrons through the soles of your feet while walking barefoot. Be sensible when choosing where to walk barefoot — your own backyard is as great a place as any, though an excuse to head to the beach is always welcome!

Getting enough quality sleep is also helpful, being one of the cornerstones of great health.  And this turned into a marathon post!  So I’m off to have some OmegaGize³™, a barefoot walk and an early night!

Enjoy the good oil daily.

*OmegaGize³™ is listed with the TGA in Australia, AustL203139

The information on this site does not constitute advice. Please consult with your health practitioner. When using any of the products mentioned throughout this site, please be sure to read the labels and follow their suggestions for safe use.